Fowler rolls into playoffs at Brier

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/03/2012 (4958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SASKATOON – Manitoba’s Rob Fowler continues to roll here at the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier, rattling off his third consecutive victory Thursday morning with a 9-3 thrashing of Saskatchewan’s Scott Manners.

The victory improved Manitoba to 7-3, guaranteed them at least a playoff tiebreaker game and kept alive their hopes of still finishing as high as second at the end of the round-robin tonight and advancing to the coveted page playoff 1 vs 2 game on Friday.

“It feels good. The last three games, the team showed their A-plus game,” said Fowler. “Obviously, we’re kind of bringing it together at the right time of the week.”

With the victory, Manitoba continued to hold down third place but they could finish as high as second if they beat Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs in their final round-robin game this afternoon and then get a loss from Alberta’s Kevin Koe in one of Koe’s two round-robin games today. Koe is presently in second place at 7-2 and plays Nova Scotia this afternoon and then Ontario tonight.

Ontario’s Glenn Howard remains in first place, improving to 9-1 with an 8-3 pounding of Nova Scotia Thursday morning. Howard has already locked up his berth in the 1-2 game, where the winner advances straight to Sunday evening’s Brier final while the loser gets a second chance in Saturday evening’s semifinal.

The top four teams will advance to the playoff round at the conclusion of the round-robin this evening. Jamie Koe of the Territories improved his playoff hopes Thursday morning with a 9-6 victory over New Brunswick. The win puts the Territories alone in fourth place at 6-4, a win ahead of Northern Ontario who are at 5-4.

The only other team with playoff hopes still alive today – although by the slimmest of margins – is BC’s Jim Cotter, who at 4-5 needs to win his final two games and get some help.

Fowler is curling this week in his fourth Brier, but his first as a skip and he was asked Thursday morning if he feels any extra pressure anchoring the Brier entry of a province that has won more Canadian mens curling championships than any other. “Let’s face it — Manitoba has won [27] Briers for a reason,” replied Fowler.

“The minute you put on the Manitoba jersey, there’s expectations to win the Brier. That’s why Manitoba has been successful over the years. We’re going to work hard to continue that trend…

“I wouldn’t relate it to pressure. That’s our goal, that’s what we expect of ourselves and that’s what our province expects of us.”